The End of the Tang Dynasty

After the failure of Huang Chao's uprising, Emperor Xi Zong of Tang returned to Chang'an. At this time, the central authority of the Tang dynasty already existed in name. In the process of suppressing the uprising, various local clans expanded their power and competed for territory, becoming large and small coveted forces. The most powerful of them were Li Ke-Yong, the governor of Hedong, and Zhu Wen, the governor of Xuanwu (the capital of modern Kaifeng, Henan). Zhu Wen came from a poor family and grew up idle, his family had three brothers, the number of his most vicious and treacherous. After the uprising of Huang Chao, he joined the rebel army and was highly used by Huang Chao. At the critical moment of the rebellion, he led a mutiny and defected to the Tang Dynasty, which was a great help to the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Xi Zong of Tang gave him a high official salary and rewarded him with the name "Quan Zhong" and sent him to suppress the rebel army.

When Huang Chao retreated from Chang'an to Henan, he was still very strong. Once, Huang Chao's army attacked Bianzhou, and Zhu Wen asked Li Keyong for help. Li Keyong defeated the rebel army and returned to Bianzhou. Zhu Wen pretended to be a good host and hosted a banquet. When Li Keyong was drunk, he sent soldiers to surround the post house and tried to kill Li Keyong. Li Kong was rescued by some of his soldiers and escaped from the siege. From that time on, Li Keyong had a grudge against Zhu Wen. The two forces kept attacking each other. Zhu Wen's power was getting bigger and bigger, and Li Kong could only keep the Hedong area.

After Emperor Xi Zong of Tang became ill and died, his brother Li Ye (yè) of Tang Zhaozong tried to rely on courtiers to oppose the eunuchs, but failed time and again. In the end, the eunuchs put Emperor Zhaozong under house arrest and installed a new emperor.

This incident gave the ambitious Zhu Wen a good opportunity. Zhu Wen sent his cronies to sneak into Chang'an and plotted secretly with Chancellor Cui Yin. With Zhu Quanzhong as his background, Cui Yin was emboldened and sent troops to kill Liu Jishu, the head of eunuchs, to welcome the restoration of Tang Zhaozong.

When Tang Zhaozong and Cui Yin wanted to kill all the eunuchs, some other eunuchs defected to another clan, Li Maozhen, the minister of Fengxiang, abducted Tang Zhaozong to Fengxiang.

Cui Yin asked for help from Zhu Wen, who led an attack on Fengxiang and asked Li Maozheng to hand over Tang Zhaozong. Li Maozheng's troops were no match for Zhu Wen and he was defeated in successive battles. Zhu Wen's army surrounded Fengxiang city, and finally, the food in the city was cut off, and it was snowy, so many soldiers and people died of hunger and freezing. Li Maozhen was besieged in the lonely city and had no way out, so he surrendered.

There was a strategist Li Zhen, nicknamed Owl, who hated the courtiers even more because he failed the entrance exam. He told Zhu Wen, "This group of people usually pretend to be noble and call themselves 'Qingliu', they should be thrown into the turbid stream (meaning the Yellow River)." Zhu Wen complied with his words, and late one night, gathered and killed three dozen courtiers and threw them into the Yellow River.

In 907 A.D., Zhu Wen abolished Emperor Zhaoxuan of Tang, made himself emperor, changed the name of his country to Liang, and established his capital in Bian (present-day Kaifeng, Henan). The traitor Zhu Wen became the Great Ancestor of Liang. The Tang Dynasty, which had ruled for nearly three hundred years, came to an end.