Proclaiming Himself Emperor
2 min readFollowing the downfall of the Xin Dynasty, by order of Emperor Gengshi, Liu Xiu commanded hisarmy to exterminate the warlords who were entrenched in present Hebei Province. Meanwhile, he cancelled exorbitant taxes and levies, set free the prisoners, restored the Western Han official titles that had been abolished by Wang Mang, and thus won popular support. Hearing that Liu Xiu had successfully pacified the north of the Yellow River, Emperor Gengshi granted him the title of “Prince of Xiao.”
“Yao Qi”
This is a scene of a traditional Peking opera entitled”Yao Qi.”After ascending the throne，Liu xiu sends general Yao Qito guard the Caoqiao Pass.However，missing his old friend is comcubine）yao oithus ties his son upand senas hinm to the palace to ask forpunishment seizingthe chance thattu yiuis drumk.Iady cuo gives orders to execute yao ois entire family.Ma Wu happens to be in the capital to request reinforcements as Niu Miao is attacking the Caoqiao Pass.Hearing the news he breaks into the palace and asks Liu Xiu to pardon the Yao family.In the end，Liu xiu releases Yao Qi and his son and allows them to atone for their crime by war exploits.
As his sphere of influence expanded gradually，in AD 25 Liu Xiu proclaimed himself emperor in Haocheng（present Baixiang County of Hebei）and adopted Jianwu as the reign title.Several months later，he occupied Luoyang City and chose it for the capital，formally founding the Eastern Han Dynasty.
