Yang Tong
Yang Tong (Chinese: 楊侗; 600s – June or July 619), known in traditional histories by his princely title of Prince of Yue (越王) or by his era name as Lord Huangtai (皇泰主), also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Gong of Sui (隋恭帝),[6] courtesy name Renjin (仁謹), was an emperor of China's Sui dynasty.
However, soon one of those officials, Wang Shichong, seized power, and in 619 had Yang Tong yield the throne to him, ending the Sui dynasty.
In 616, with most of Sui territory, particularly the northern commanderies, engulfed in agrarian rebellions, Emperor Yang went from Luoyang to Jiangdu (江都, in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu), leaving Yang Tong in charge of Luoyang assisted by the officials Duan Da (段達), Yuan Wendu (元文都), Wei Jin (韋津), Huangfu Wuyi (皇甫無逸), and Lu Chu (盧楚).
In summer 617, with his forces repeatedly defeated by Li Mi's, Yang Tong sent the official Yuan Shanda (元善達) to Jiangdu to seek aid from Emperor Yang, but Emperor Yang, believing in the prime minister Yu Shiji's assessments that the situation was not as severe as Yuan Shanda was claiming, initially refused to send aid.
Pei soon surrendered to Li Mi, making Luoyang's position even more precarious.
Emperor Yang finally did order the generals Pang Yu (龐玉) and Huo Shiju (霍世舉) to lead the troops from the Chang'an region to aid Luoyang, and Pang and Huo were able to force Li Mi away from Huiluo, allowing Luoyang to regain some of its food supply, although by fall 617 Li Mi had recaptured Huiluo.
Li Yuan, in response, had Yang You yield the throne to him, establishing Tang dynasty as its Emperor Gaozu.
Yuan and Lu, under suggestion from Gai Cong (蓋琮), decided to try to make peace with Li Mi by bestowing official Sui honors—including creating him the Duke of Wei, a title that Li Mi himself had claimed.
The officials at Luoyang were pleased, except for Wang, who remarked that Yuan and Lu were awarding honors on a bandit, drawing suspicions from Yuan and Lu that Wang was intending to surrender the city to Yuwen.
Upon hearing of Yuan and Lu's deaths, Li Mi broke off the peaceful relations with Yang Tong's regime, now under Wang's control.
Li briefly considered fleeing to his general Xu Shiji, but ultimately decided to head west to Chang'an, to surrender to Tang.
Most of Li Mi's former territory (modern central and eastern Henan) surrendered to Wang, and around the same time, the rebel generals Du Fuwei (who controlled modern central and southern Anhui), Shen Faxing (who controlled modern Zhejiang), Zhu Can (whose army roamed in southern Henan), and Dou Jiande (who controlled modern Hebei), all nominally submitted to Yang Tong, and at least in appearance, it appeared that Sui power was becoming restored under Yang Tong.
Yang Tong made one last plea, pointing out that Wang Shichong had previously promised to keep him alive.
Yang Tong set sacrifices to Buddha and prayed, "May it be that I will no longer again be reborn into an imperial household."
