Hou Jing
Hou Jing, courtesy name Wanjing, was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician. He was a general of Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, and Liang, and briefly, after controlling the Liang imperial regime for several years, usurped the Liang throne, establishing a state of Han. He was soon defeated by the Liang prince Xiao Yi, the prince of Xiangdong, and was killed by his own associates while in flight. The entire period from 548552 is known as the Hou Jing or Houjing Disturbance. Hou Jing is one of the most reviled figures in imperial Chinese history, known for his extreme cruelty to enemies and civilians. He is also known to have called himself "Grand General of the Universe, Chief Controller of all Military Affairs in the Six Directions".
Early life and career
It is not known when Hou Jing was born, but it was known that he was from Huaishuo Garrison -- one of the six garrisons that Northern Wei established on the northern border to defend against Rouran attacks. He appeared to be ethnically Chinese, but the matter of his ethnicity is not conclusive. When he was young, he was one of a group of friends who associated with Gao Huan, who often spent time in the countryside, seeking to correct injustice.During the reign of Emperor Xiaoming, Northern Wei plunged into a state of civil war, with much of the state overrun by agrarian rebellions. Around this time, Hou joined the army of the Northern Wei general Erzhu Rong, and initially, he learned tactics from Erzhu's lieutenant Murong Shaozong, but soon, Murong found it necessary to consult Hou for his opinion on tactical matters. After Erzhu largely put down the rebellions, Hou was made the governor of Ding Province. After Erzhu was killed by Emperor Xiaozhuang in 530, and Emperor Xiaozhuang was in turn killed by Erzhu's relatives, members of the Erzhu clan controlled the imperial government. In 531, Gao rose against the Erzhus, and in 532, after Gao had defeated the Erzhus, Hou joined Gao, and Gao made him the governor of Ji Province. Soon, however, Gao appeared to recall Hou and make him one of his subcommanders. In 534, when Gao instigated Houmochen Yue, the lieutenant of the independent general Heba Yue, to assassinate Heba, he sent Hou to try to seize Heba's troops, but on the way, Hou encountered Heba's assistant Yuwen Tai, who sternly warned him against trying, and Hou retreated, allowing Yuwen to take control of Heba's troops. This allowed Yuwen to take control of the western provinces of the state, and in 534, Emperor Xiaowu, whom Gao had made emperor in 532, seeking to slip out of Gao's control, fled to Yuwen's territory. Gao made Yuan Shanjian, a member of the imperial Yuan clan, emperor, thus dividing Northern Wei into Eastern Wei and Western Wei.
As Eastern Wei general
Hou Jing continued to serve under Gao Huan, and he became known as a brilliant tactician as well as a tough warrior even though, unlike many other generals at the time, he was not particularly skilled at horseriding, archery, or any other martial skills, and he was described as walking with a limp with short legs. Gao, however, knew of his abilities and honoured him appropriately. But Hou was arrogant, and he often compared two other key generals, Peng Le and Gao Aocao, to wild boars in their charges. He also often claimed that if Gao allowed him to lead an army south, he could easily capture Emperor Wu of Liang and make Emperor Wu, an avid Buddhist, the head monk of the Taiping Temple.In late 534, Gao sent Hou to attack Heba Sheng, who controlled the southern provinces at the time and was loosely allied with Yuwen Tai. Hou defeated Heba, forcing Heba to flee to the Liang Dynasty and taking those provinces for Eastern Wei. In 536, Gao put him in charge of the provinces south of the Yellow River, and from that point on, those provinces were under his command. In the winter of that year, he was sent to raid Chuzhou. He had some initial success, killing its inspector Huan He on 9 December, and even wrote a letter to famed Liang general Chen Qingzhi, asking Chen to surrender. But, Hou was later defeated by Chen, and Chen's troops recovered the supplies which Hou's troops had abandoned during their retreat.
In 537, when Gao launched a major attack on Western Wei, seeking to destroy it, Hou was with him, and advised against advancing in a single large army, advocating dividing the army into two parts that would remain at a distance and support each other. Gao did not accept his advice, and was defeated by Yuwen Tai at the Battle of Shayuan, suffering heavy losses — partly because Hou gave the poor tactical advice that Gao should not try to set fires against Yuwen's troops. After the defeat, Hou offered to take the elite troops to launch a surprise attack on Yuwen, arguing that Yuwen would not be taking any precautions against such an attack and could be captured. However, when Gao consulted with his wife Lou Zhaojun, Princess Lou reminded him that if Hou actually captured Yuwen, he would not return. Gao therefore decided against Hou's plan.
In 538, Hou recaptured several southern provinces that had defected to Western Wei in light of Eastern Wei's defeat at Shawan. He followed up by besieging the old Northern Wei capital, Luoyang, then defended by the Western Wei general Dugu Xin, precipitating a major battle in which both Eastern and Western Wei suffered major losses. In the end, however, the Western Wei troops, commanded by Yuwen, were forced to withdraw, and the Luoyang region was again controlled by Eastern Wei.
In 543, when the Eastern Wei general Gao Zhongmi defected to Western Wei, along with the important garrison of Hulao, which he controlled, Hou was one of the generals who helped both in besieging Hulao and in combating the Western Wei forces commanded by Yuwen that tried to relieve Hulao. The Western Wei forces were defeated and forced to withdraw, but even then Hulao did not fall. Yuwen then sent secret messengers to order Hulao's defender Wei Guang to hold his position and to await relief forces. Hou captured the messengers and, judging that it was more important to capture the garrison quickly, changed the messengers' message to "Withdraw from Hulao," and then allowed the messengers to reach Wei Guang. Wei Guang quickly withdrew from Hulao, which became again under Eastern Wei control. For this achievement, Hou was promoted to the honorific post of Sikong.
Rebellion against Eastern Wei
Despite the strong personal relationship between Gao Huan and Hou Jing, however, Hou had little respect for Gao's oldest son and heir apparent Gao Cheng, once making the comment to another friend of his and Gao Huan's, Sima Ziru, that he would remain loyal if Gao Huan were still alive, but that he could not serve together with the "Xianbei boy" if Gao Huan died. In late 546, believing that Gao Huan was dead or near death, Hou began to prepare to rebel, and he did so in spring 547. He first surrendered the 13 provinces that he commanded to Western Wei, but subsequently also surrendered to Liang. Both Western Wei and Liang sent troops to support him. Before Western Wei and Liang troops could arrive, Eastern Wei forces commanded by Han Gui surrounded him at Yingchuan. Western Wei forces commanded by Wang Sizheng soon arrived, and Han withdrew. Wang, not believing that Hou actually intended to become a loyal Western Wei subject, secured four provinces that Hou was willing to give up control. Meanwhile, Emperor Wu of Liang was greatly pleased by Hou's surrender, and launched a major attack commanded by his nephew Xiao Yuanming the Marquess of Zhenyang, intending to relieve the pressure on Hou by opening another front to the east. Soon, Yuwen Tai demanded that Hou visit the Western Wei capital Chang'an to pay homage to Emperor Wen of Western Wei, to show his good faith. Hou refused, and he tried to persuade a number of Western Wei generals to join him, but only Ren Yue did, with a minor army. The rest of the Western Wei forces withdrew their support from Hou and merely defended the provinces that Hou had given up.Meanwhile, Gao Cheng, pursuant to directions left him by Gao Huan, commissioned Murong Shaozong as the commander of his forces against Hou—a move that caught Hou by surprise, as he was still apprehensive of Murong's abilities and was surprised that Gao Cheng would make Murong his commanding general. At the same time, Xiao Yuanming arrived at Hanshan, near the important city of Pengcheng, putting pressure on the city by damming the Si River to cause it to flood against Pengcheng. However, against the advice of the senior general Yang Kan, Xiao Yuanming did not quickly siege Pengcheng, but merely waited, pondering his next move. Hou cautioned him against Murong, and also informed him that if he defeated Eastern Wei troops, he should not chase them too hastily, lest he fall into a trap. He did not heed the warning, and when Murong arrived at Pengcheng, Murong attacked him. The Liang troops were initially successful and quickly forced Eastern Wei forces to retreat, but Murong, anticipating this result, laid a trap, and when Liang troops gave chase, they became trapped and were crushed. Xiao Yuanming was captured.
Having defeated Xiao Yuanming, Murong now turned his attention toward Hou, and he marched toward Chengfu, where Hou was. Hou retreated to Woyang, and the armies faced off against each other. Initially, Hou was successful, forcing Murong's army to flee, but Murong soon regrouped, and the armies' positions stalemated. By the end of 547, Hou's army had run out of food supplies, and one of the generals who first supported him, Sima Shiyun, surrendered to Murong. In spring 548, Murong made a public announcement to Hou's troops that their families were still safe, and Hou's troops, believing Murong, abandoned him. Hou fled with 800 soldiers who were still loyal to him. Murong gave chase but gave up the chase when Hou reminded him that he himself would be useless if Hou were destroyed. The Liang general Yang Yaren, who was holding Xuanhu, abandoned Xuanhu. The provinces that Hou controlled were now all lost.
Hou himself considered what his next action would be, and he, under advice from the Liang commander Liu Shenmao, ambushed and seized the Liang acting governor of Southern Yu Province, Wei An, taking control of Southern Yu Province's capital city Shouyang. He sent an apology to Emperor Wu of Liang, and Emperor Wu, not having the heart to rebuke Hou after his defeat, made him the governor of Southern Yu Province without any punishment.