Zhu Wen was the founding emperor of Later Liang, originally a general of Huang Chao, who later defected and surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, after Zhu Wen's power became large, he destroyed the Tang Dynasty, became emperor himself, and established Hou Liang, however, Zhu Wen was very cruel and absurd, and was eventually killed by his son.
Zhu Wen was killed by his second son Zhu Youjue, Zhu Youjue's mother, who came from a very humble background, and once, Zhu Wen led an army through Bozhou and summoned his mother to accompany him, so she became pregnant. After Zhu Wen left, his mother sent someone to tell Zhu Wen that she had given birth to a boy, and Zhu Wen was very happy, so he took the nickname Yaoxi, and later, Zhu Youjue was taken by Zhu Wen to raise him.
When Zhu Youjue grew up, he was different, cunning and resourceful. Zhu Wen's adopted son, Zhu Youwen, the Prince of Bo, is also a not simple person, he is versatile and old, and Zhu Wen likes him very much.
In April of the first year of Kaiping (907), Zhu Wen forced the Tang emperor to abdicate, and Zen ceded to him, so Zhu Wen usurped the throne as emperor and established Later Liang, and on the ninth day of May of the same year, Zhu Youjue was crowned the Prince of Yin. At that time, Zhu Wen had not yet made a prince, but Zhu Wen wanted to make Zhu Youwen the crown prince in his heart, because he felt that Zhu Youwen was much stronger than Zhu Youjue.
In the fourth year of Kaiping (910), Zhu Wen appointed Zhu Youjue as the commander of the left and right control of hedu. When Zhu Wen was seriously ill, Zhu Youjue finally waited for the opportunity, when Zhu Wen was ready to send someone to send Zhu Youwen to succeed to the emperor's throne.
At that time, Zhu Youwen's wife Wang Shi was relatively beautiful and very favored by Zhu Wen. Zhu Wen was ill for a long time, and Wang and Zhu Youjue's wife Zhang Shi often served by Zhu Wen's side.
In the second year of Qianhua (912), Zhu Wen said to Wang, I know that my illness will not be cured, you go to Dongdu to summon Zhu Youwen to come, I have something to explain to him. In other words, Zhu Wen intended to pass the throne to his adopted son Zhu Youwen, but what about his own son Zhu Youjue? Zhu Wen planned to give Zhu Youjue a county and let him take up his post, so he appointed Zhu Youjue as the Assassin of Laizhou, and thus sent Zhu Youjue away.
Seeing that the throne was taken away, Zhu Youjue was very unwilling, the old father's throne should be his, how can he let it be given to others? Therefore, he used his identity as an envoy to control the commander of Hedu and secretly went to the Zuo Dragon and Tiger Army to consult with the unified army Han Xun, who had been his old subordinate, and the two of them hit it off and led five hundred soldiers into the palace overnight.
In the middle of the night, Zhu Youjue led his soldiers directly into Zhu Wen's palace, and all the people around Zhu Wen were scared away. Zhu Wen felt that the situation was not right, and immediately sat up and shouted, Who rebelled? Zhu Youjue replied, it is me. Zhu Wen said, I have suspected this thief for a long time, I only hate that I did not kill you earlier, do you want to kill your father? Zhu Youjue said to his relative Feng Tingchen, don't talk nonsense, you hurry up and kill the old thief! Therefore, Feng Tingchen drew his sword and stabbed Zhu Wen, Zhu Wen ran around the pillar, Feng Tingchen cut three times, all cut to the pillar, and finally, Zhu Wen lost his strength and fell on the bed, Feng Tingchen stabbed Zhu Wen to death, and the front chest was worn through the back.
On June 16 of the second year of Qianhua (July 27, 912), Zhu Youjue took the throne before Zhu Wen's coffin.
After Zhu Youjue became emperor, he rewarded a large number of generals and soldiers and bought people's hearts, however, the rewards were unfair, many veteran generals were very opinionated, and Zhu Youjue himself did many evils, resulting in public resentment.
In the first year of the Feng Dynasty (913), Zhu Wen's grandson Yuan Xiangxian, his son-in-law Zhao Yan (赵岩), the fourth son of Zhu Youzhen (朱友贞), the fourth son of Junwang (朱友贞), conspired with the general Yang Shihou and others to get rid of Zhu Youjue.
In February of the same year, Yuan Xiang was the first to attack, leading thousands of forbidden troops into the palace, Zhu Youjue and his wife heard about the mutiny, frightened and rushed to the bottom of the north wall, ready to escape over the wall, but, too late, the pursuing soldiers had already been chased, Zhu Youjue saw that the general trend had gone, so he ordered Feng Tingchen to kill him and his wife, and then Feng Tingchen also committed suicide.
The "New Five Dynasties History, Volume XIII, Biography of the Liang Family", records that Yuan Xiangxian, the grandson of Taizu, conspired with the last emperor to fight with the last emperor. In February, Xiang Xian entered the palace with forbidden soldiers, and Youjue and his wife Zhang Shi went downstairs to the north wall and crossed the city to leave, but without success, Feng Tingchen stabbed his wife and himself, and Tingchen also committed suicide.
After Zhu Youjue's death, Zhu Youzhen took the throne as the last emperor of Later Liang.