Shi Hu

Shi Hu, courtesy name Jilong, also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Wu of Later Zhao, was an emperor of the Jie-led Chinese Later Zhao dynasty. He was the founding emperor Shi Le 's distant nephew and adopted brother, who took power in a coup after Shi Le's death from Shi Le's heir Shi Hong. Due to Tang dynasty naming taboo, he is referred to using his courtesy name in the Book of Jin.
Shi Hu was a talented general who rarely lost battles, and Shi Le relied on him heavily in his conquest of northern and central China. However, he was also exceedingly cruel in his military campaigns. After he became the ruler of Later Zhao under the title of "heavenly king", he ruled the empire with a heavy hand, imposing heavy tax and labor burdens and spending much of his effort on constructing lavish palaces and expanding his harem. When two of his crown princes crossed him on separate occasions, he had them executed in brutal fashion. On the other hand, he was mindful of showing leniency towards his chief officials and propagated Buddhism by promoting religious freedom and revering the monk, Fotu Cheng. While he was alive, his empire remained intact, but as soon as he died, his sons and adopted grandson Ran Min engaged in an internecine war that destroyed both the empire and the Jie people.

Early life

Shi Hu's father was named Koumi and was a son of a cousin of Shi Le's father Zhouhezhu. His father died early and he was raised by Zhouhezhu and his wife, Shi Le's mother Lady Wang, so Shi Hu was also sometimes referred to as Shi Le's brother. During the early 300s, a severe famine affected the Jie tribesmen, and Shi Hu became separated from Shi Le. Later, after Shi Le had become a powerful Han-Zhao general, Liu Kun the Jin governor of Bing Province, where the Jie were from, located Shi Hu and Lady Wang and sent them to Shi Le along with messengers, trying to persuade Shi Le to defect from Han to Jin. Shi Le, in gratitude, sent horses and jewel to Liu, but did not accept his invitation.
Shi Hu grew up in Shi Le's army, and when he was young, he became known for incessantly hunting and not following military orders, and particularly liked hitting people with sling bullets. Shi Le considered killing him, as the entire army was complaining about Shi Hu, but Lady Wang responded, "Before a fast bull grows up, it would often break wagons that it pulls. Endure him a little bit." By the time he got to age 18, he was about 184 cm tall, and he became known for his bravery in battle and skills in archery and horsemanship, and the entire army feared him. Shi Le gave him the sister of the general Guo Rong in marriage to him, but he favored his concubine Zheng Yingtao and, at Zheng's instigation, killed Lady Guo. The same happened to his next wife, Lady Cui. He also became known for his cruelty in governing his soldiers and in battle, as he often executed officers who disagreed with his wishes or had great abilities, and whenever he captured a city, he often slaughtered the entire population. Even though Shi Le rebuked him at times, he could not get Shi Hu to change his ways. However, despite his cruelty, he also gave his officers leeway in their tactics, and he often led them into battles fearless of dangers. Therefore, Shi Le trusted him greatly and made him one of his top lieutenants.

During Shi Le's stint as Han-Zhao general

Shi Le frequently sent Shi Hu out in command of forces against important foes and gave him the title of Marquess of Fanyang. The enemies that Shi Hu engaged while serving under Shi Le included:

313 - Shi Hu defeated Liu Kun's son Liu Yan, who was then in control of the important city Yecheng, forcing Liu Yan to flee and yield control of Yecheng to him. Shi Le made Shi Hu the governor of Wei Commandery, and henceforth Shi Hu saw Yecheng as his personal possession, taking up residence in the three towers that Cao Cao had built.
317 - Shi Le sent Shi Hu to attack the Jin general Zu Ti, who was recapturing territory south of the Yellow River, but after he was unable to defeat Zu conclusively, Shi Hu was forced to withdraw. Zu would henceforth pose a major threat to Shi Le until Zu's death in 321.
318 - Shi Hu was a major general in Shi Le's campaign against Jin Zhun, who had assassinated the Han emperor Liu Can and slaughtered members of the imperial Liu clan. His victories over Jin Zhun's cousin and succession Jin Ming forced Jin Ming to abandon the capital Pingyang and surrender to the new emperor Liu Yao.
319 - Shi Hu defended against a Zu Ti attack against the general Chen Chuan, who had earlier switched his allegiance from Jin to Shi Le, and he repelled Zu. Later in the year, Shi Hu attacked the Xianbei chief Riliuyan, based in the Hetao region and greatly defeated him.

In 319, Shi Le, after a dispute of Liu Yao, declared independence as the Prince of Zhao, and he bestowed Shi Hu a number of offices and the title the Duke of Zhongshan.

During Shi Le's reign as Later Zhao prince/emperor

After Shi Le's establishment of Later Zhao, he, even more so than before, extensively relied on Shi Hu to defeat major enemies. The major battles that Shi Hu engaged in included:

320 - Shi Hu captured Shao Xu, the Jin governor of Ji Province, one of the last major pockets of Jin resistance in northern China, in battle.
321 - Shi Hu captured Duan Pidi, the Jin governor of You Province and his brother Duan Wenyuan, wiping out the last major pocket of Jin resistance in northern China.
322 - Shi Hu captured the general Xu Kan, who had vacillated between allegiances to Jin and Later Zhao.
323 - Shi Hu captured the general Cao Ni, who had vacillated between allegiances to Jin, Former Zhao, and Later Zhao, and who was in control of most of modern Shandong, thus eliminating a major semi-independent domain in the north. It was after the siege of Cao's capital Guanggu that an example of Shi Hu's cruelty was shown—he wanted to slaughter all of the population of Guanggu. After Later Zhao's governor of Qing Province, Liu Zheng protested that he was supposed to govern over the people and that he cannot govern without people, Shi nevertheless slaughtered most of the population but left 700 people alive for Liu to govern.
325 - With Later Zhao by this point in a state of constant war against Former Zhao, Shi Hu defeated and captured the Former Zhao general Liu Yue the Prince of Zhongshan, depriving the Former Zhao emperor Liu Yao of one of his key generals. He also captured and killed the Former Zhao general Wang Teng, who had earlier defected from Later Zhao.
328 - Shi Hu attacked Former Zhao, but was defeated by Liu Yao, who then attacked Luoyang. Shi Le had to personally relieve Luoyang, capturing Liu Yao in battle in early 329.
329 - After Liu Yao was captured, the Former Zhao crown prince Liu Xi and his brother Liu Yin abandoned the Former Zhao capital Chang'an and fled to Shanggui, but in the fall Liu Yin tried to recapture Chang'an. Shi Hu defeated him, forcing him to flee back to Shanggui, and then advanced on Shanggui, capturing it and killing Liu Xi and Liu Yin, ending Former Zhao.

As the years went by, Shi Hu began to develop an antagonistic relationship with Shi Le's key advisors Cheng Xia and Xu Guang, who had seen Shi Hu's ambitions and urged for Shi Le to curb his powers. The first conflict came in 326, when Shi Le, under Cheng's advice, had Shi Hong take over Yecheng's defenses, forcing Shi Hu's household to move out of the three towers. In 330, after Shi Le successively claimed the titles of "Heavenly King" and emperor, Shi Hu was given title of Prince of Zhongshan, and two of his sons were also given title of princes as well. However, Shi Hu became incensed that he was not also given the title of Grand Chanyu, which Shi Le had granted to his son Shi Hong, and he secretly started plotting taking over after Shi Le's death. In 332, Shi Le tried to curb his powers by having the crown prince and the eunuch Yan Zhen participate in important decisions that were previously Shi Hu's to make, which only served to anger Shi Hu.

Coup against Shi Hong

As Shi Le grew ill in 333, Shi Hu entered the palace to serve him in his illness and cut off his communication with the outside. Shi Hu then issued false edicts summoning Shi Hong the Prince of Qin and Shi Le's adopted son Shi Kan the Prince of Pengcheng back to the capital Xiangguo and then detained them. When Shi Le died in the fall, Shi Hu immediately seized the crown prince Shi Hong and arrested and executed Cheng and Xu. Shi Hong, in fear, offered the throne to Shi Hu, but Shi Hu forced him to take the throne.
Shi Hu then forced Shi Hong to confer on him the title King of Wei—intentionally paralleling Cao Cao's title while preparing for usurpation of the Han throne—and granting him the nine bestowments. All of Shi Le's trusted officials were demoted or moved to posts with no real power, while Shi Hu's subordinates were moved into key positions. Shi Le's wife Empress Dowager Liu plotted with Shi Kan to try to start rebellions to overthrow Shi Hu, but after Shi Kan fled the capital but failed in his attempt to capture Linqiu, Shi Hu captured him and cruelly executed him by burning. Soon thereafter, Empress Dowager Liu's role was discovered, and she was executed as well.
In winter 333, Shi Sheng the Prince of Hedong, in defense of Chang'an, and Shi Lang, in defense of Luoyang, declared a rebellion against Shi Hu and sought assistance from Jin. Pu Hong the Di chief also rose and sought assistance from Former Liang. Shi Hu personally attacked Shi Lang and captured Luoyang easily, killing Shi Lang. He then attacked Chang'an with his son Shi Ting the Prince of Liang, but Shi Ting was defeated by Shi Sheng's subordinate Guo Quan and killed. Shi Hu was forced to withdraw. However, Shi Sheng did not know about this victory and, when the Xianbei chief Shegui rebelled, panicked and fled, abandoning Chang'an, and was killed in flight. Guo fled to Shanggui but was defeated in 334. Pu surrendered and was pardoned. That ended significant resistance to Shi Hu.
In 334, unable to endure Shi Hu's vengeance, Shi Hong personally carried imperial seals and visited Shi Hu's palace, offering to abdicate to him. Shi Hu declined with sarcastic language, and Shi Hong, knowing that Shi Hu had even crueler intentions, could carry out no other intentions. In late 334, Shi Hu deposed Shi Hong to the title the Prince of Haiyang, but soon had him, his mother Empress Dowager Cheng, and his brothers Shi Hong and Shi Hui the Prince of Nanyang put to death. The officials offered the imperial title to Shi Hu, but Shi Hu declined and took the title "Regent Heavenly King".