impending takeover. Only with these preparations in place did he have Emperor He sent back toward the capital. Before Emperor He reached Jiankang, however, in spring 502, while Emperor He had only reached Gushu (姑孰, in modern Ma'anshan, Anhui), Xiao Yan had him issue an edict giving the throne to Xiao Yan, ending Southern Qi and beginning Liang Dynasty (with Xiao Yan as its Emperor Wu). Xiao Yan created Emperor He the Prince of Baling, but soon had him put to death, ending Emperor Ming's line (except for Xiao Baoyin, and Xiao Baoyi who was born disabled), although he treated Emperor Gao's and Emperor Wu's remaining progeny (most of those two emperors' progeny having been slaughtered by Emperor Ming) with honor and respect, making many of them his officials, reasoning that he and Southern Qi's imperial clan had the same origin. Emperor Wu created his infant son Xiao Tong, who was born of his concubine Consort Ding during the war against Xiao Baojuan, crown prince. (He had previously adopted his brother Xiao Hong (蕭宏)'s son Xiao Zhengde as his son, and Xiao Zhengde wanted to be crown prince; instead, after creating Xiao Tong crown prince, Emperor Wu rescinded the adoption and returned Xiao Zhengde to Xiao Hong's household, drawing Xiao Zhengde's resentment.) Early Reign The early reign of Emperor Wu was considered to be Liang Dynasty's prime. He was considered diligent and frugal, and he tried to foster willingness for his officials to have different opinions than his. However, an immediate troubling sign for his reign, which would become increasingly serious as time went on, was how he appeared to be willing to tolerate corruption by his own family members, particularly his brother Xiao Hong the Prince of Linchuan, and those high-level officials who he felt contributed to his establishment of Liang. Emperor Wu also became the first emperor in Southern Dynasties' history to explicitly grant prime ministerial authorities to designated officials who were not prime ministers in name. He first granted those authorities to Fan Yun, and after Fan's death in 503, granted those authorities to Zhou She and Xu Mian, even though neither officially carried a high rank until late in their careers. Two immediate threats that Emperor Wu had to deal with upon ascending the throne were rebellions by Chen Bozhi, who did not feel secure in his position despite Emperor Wu's permitting him to remain as